The destroyer left its home base Severomorsk on April 6. Before departure, “Vice Admiral Kulakov” was on a training mission in the Barents Sea as part of the preparations for the upcoming tour-of-duty in the Gulf of Aden, the fleet’s spokesman Capt. 1st Rank Vadim Serga said to RIA Novosti on Tuesday.
“It will be the first anti-piracy mission for the Vice Admiral Kulakov destroyer,” Serga said. Earlier the Northern Fleet’s vessels “Peter Veliky”, “Severomorsk”, “Admiral Chabanenko” and “Admiral Levchenko” have participated in anti-piracy missions in the Gulf of Aden.
The Russian Navy has maintained a presence off the Somali coast since October 2008, with warships operating on a rotation basis. The new task force will replace a similar task force from the Pacific Fleet, which completed its anti-piracy mission off the Somali coast on Monday and set sail for its home base in Vladivostok.